'Creative partnerships'

I commend the Fresno Unified School District, its trustees, Superintendent Michael Hanson and all district staff who worked with Hewlett-Packard to bring all the new laptop computers into our schools.

The relationship with HP represents the kind of public-private cooperation that is often imagined but rarely achieved on this scale in the Valley. Fresno Unified now has enough laptops to provide one for every two students in 400 second- through 12th-grade classrooms. HP will be sending its engineers and product managers into the district to watch their new product in action and learn from our students and teachers.

Computer skills and Internet access are essential educational tools; and more than ever, computer literacy is a requirement for full economic, cultural and political participation. These new laptops will enable students all over the district to develop that literacy while enhancing their overall educational experience. The creative partnerships that Fresno Unified has forged with HP, ATT, Microsoft and Cisco enable the district to do so much more for our children than local resources alone would allow, and promise even more in continued access to the newest technologies for our schools.